Tazhin Visits Washington, Discusses Economic Diversification, Nonproliferation and OSCE Bid
17 May, 09:07
Marat Tazhin concluded his first visit to the United States as Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister last week. The visit focused on diversification of Kazakhstan-U.S. economic cooperation, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional security in Central Asia as well as Kazakhstan’s political reforms and its bid to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. Minister Tazhin met U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. On Capitol Hill, he met Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Asia, Pacific and the Environment Subcommittee, and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Minister Tazhin also addressed government officials, business leaders and experts at a dinner hosted by the U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Association on Kazakhstan’s role in today’s world (see Kazakhstan News Bulletin, May 9, 2007) and gave interviews to the Washington Times, Reuters and the Associated Press as well as the Kazakh news media. “Kazakhstan’s relations with the United States have always been noted for their two characteristics: stability and predictability,” Minister Tazhin said in an interview with Khabar TV, adding that he had “open, constructive and productive talks” with his US counterparts. He praised his May 9 meeting with Secretary Rice and said the two countries’ positions regarding Kazakhstan’s bid to chair the OSCE in 2009 became closer. Last December, the OSCE postponed its decision on the bid until the end of November of this year in Madrid in order to allow Kazakhstan more time to pursue democratic reform. Tazhin said he outlined the progress since that time and plans for further political reforms in Kazakhstan in the near future, noting a constitutional reform was in order for this year focusing on strengthening the role of Parliament. In her turn, Secretary Rice lauded the multifaceted cooperation between Washington and Astana and noted Kazakhstan’s leadership in its region saying “economic and political reforms in Kazakhstan will stimulate other countries in Central Asia toward further development.” During meetings in Washington, U.S. officials thanked Kazakhstan for its steadfast support of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, with Tazhin assuring them of continued support. Kazakhstan recently rotated its contingent in Iraq sending a fresh group of army engineers there. So far, the Kazakhs have destroyed more than four million pieces of deadly ordnance in Iraq and have trained 300 Iraqi soldiers in this dangerous craft. Another subject on the agenda was the need to do more in fighting drug trafficking out of Afghanistan which threatens to undermine regional stability in Central Asia. Tazhin noted the importance of greater coordination of efforts to contain this problem, including sharing information and greater cooperation of law enforcement agencies. He said a new regional structure under UN auspices, Central Asia Regional Information Coordination Center (CARICC), will be set up in Almaty soon. Nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction was also high on the minister’s agenda for talks in Washington, especially with Senator Lugar, well known for his championship of this cause. Lugar praised Kazakhstan’s nuclear disarmament example while Tazhin noted the timeliness of that example for countries seeking nuclear weapons. Since Kazakhstan’s decision to renounce the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, the United States, under the 15-year-old Nunn-Lugar program, has helped Kazakhstan eliminate weapons of mass destruction and their infrastructure to the tune of 200 million dollars. Tazhin told Lugar Kazakhstan was interested in extending the bilateral framework agreement in this area for the next seven years until 2014. No less significant was Tazhin’s announcement about the upcoming signing of the Kazakhstan-Russia agreement on creating a joint uranium enrichment center, open for participation of third countries, as a means to help prevent further proliferation of enrichment know-how which can be used not only in peaceful application, but also in weapons production (see story below).
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